Shwedagon pagoda, Bagan

Though Myanmar has low standard of living, underdeveloped infrastructure and not so many tourists, it is considered one of the most expensive countries in Southeast Asia for travelling. The reason is that all the hotels and hostels are held by the political elite, there is a ban for ordinary people to offer their homes to tourists and the expensive transport. Food is relatively cheap. As they say in Wikitravel: “It is not possible to feel comfortable in Myanmar with under 25 $ budget per day per person.”

Temple in Inwa, Mandalay

Here is how we managed here traveling hitchhiking, sleeping at Buddhist monasteries and in our tent for the 28 days we spent in Burma (November-December 2015)

 

Food:                         43$      (expenses were low because of the incredible hospitality of the people and the food they were always giving us when we were staying at the monasteries)

 

Accommodation:    0$

Transportation:      4$        (we spent this using the public transport at the big city Yangon)

Other:                         25$      (7$ of which for using Internet)

Visas:                          80 $     (this was for issuing our visa for Thailand)

Total:                         72$      per month for both of us (+80$ for the Thai visas)

                                    36$      per month per person

At the end we spent less money in Myanmar than in any other country we visited during our journey.

 

Teak temple at Inwa, Mandalay

At a Buddhist monastery